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Our Leadership

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Meet our Board of Directors

Project Sleep’s Board of Directors is a diverse and passionate group of leaders united by a shared commitment to advancing sleep health, equity, and awareness. The Board is comprised of professionals and advocates with expertise spanning healthcare, education, nonprofit management, communications, and community organizing. Many members bring personal connections to sleep disorders, having been directly impacted themselves or through loved ones, which fuels their dedication to Project Sleep’s mission. Learn more about all past and present Project Sleep Board of Directors members.

Tracy Christensen, a white woman with glasses and pinkish-reddish hair, wearing a royal blue top, navy blue cardigan, and a long silver necklace.

Tracy Christensen

Chair
Kristyn Beecher, a black woman with her hair pulled back wearing hoop earrings and a black top.

Kristyn Beecher

Vice Chair

Megan Donnell

Secretary

Kristen Cascio

Director
CJ Gray, Project Sleep Board Member

CJ Gray

Director
Dr. Jennifer Talbert; a woman with dark brown hair and blue eyes posing outside in a deep red sweater.

Dr. Jennifer Talbert, DC

Director
Jacob Zeiher, a white man with short, light colored hair and blue eyes wearing a gray suit jacket with a white shirt and blue tie.

Jacob Zeiher

Treasurer
Kristen Crawford, a woman with curled blonde hair and blue eyes wearing a professional-looking red top with black trim.

Kristen Crawford

Director
Stephanie Manuli, a woman with blond hair and dark eyes, wearing a red graduation gown positioned in front of some greenery.

Stephanie Manuli

Director
Lauren Thomas, a black woman with shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes.

Lauren Thomas

Director
Chelsea Cataldi, a white woman with long blonde hair wearing black glasses and a maroon top.

Chelsea Cataldi

Director

Kenya Gradnigo

Director
Jenny Reid, a white woman with blonde hair wearing a blue tweed blazer and white blouse.

Jenny Reid

Director
Richelle Topping posing in an indigo top in front of a backdrop of green foilage.

Richelle Topping

Director

Meet our Staff

Julie Flygare, JD
President & CEO

Julie Flygare, JD, serves as President & CEO of Project Sleep. Flygare is an internationally recognized patient-perspective leader, an accomplished advocate, and the award-winning author of Wide Awake and Dreaming: A Memoir of Narcolepsy. In March 2022, she delivered the TEDx Talk, “What Can You Learn from a Professional Dreamer?” Recently, the Sleep Research Society awarded Flygare the 2024 Public Service Award for significantly advancing the mission of the SRS through advocacy and public policy efforts.

Since receiving a diagnosis of narcolepsy with cataplexy in 2007, Flygare advanced her leadership in the sleep and healthcare space through speaking engagements, publications, earned media, collaborations, and advocacy and awareness initiatives. Prior to accepting her current role as President & CEO of Project Sleep, Flygare served as President of Project Sleep’s Board of Directors, while also gaining invaluable experience in marketing and philanthropy at the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and City of Hope. Additionally, she served on the National Institutes of Health’s Sleep Disorders Research Advisory Board from 2012 – 2015. Flygare received her B.A. from Brown University in 2005 and her J.D. from Boston College Law School in 2009, focusing on health law, policy, and rare disease drug development.

Lauren Oglesby, MPH
Programs Manager

Lauren is a public health educator and advocate, with a focus on healthcare and resource accessibility. They have implemented programs serving LGBTQIA+ youth in rural Virginia, teens at high risk of pregnancy, and people who are incarcerated and living with HIV.

Lauren has personal and family experience with invisible disabilities, chronic illness, neurodivergence, and LGBTQIA+ identity, and is committed to creating spaces of belonging and inclusion. They are thrilled to serve as Programs Manager with Project Sleep, where they leverage their diverse personal and professional experience (and love of spreadsheets) to coordinate advocacy and awareness initiatives with the sleep community. In their spare time, Lauren enjoys hiking in the Blue Ridge mountains, reading too many books at a time, and trying to keep up with their teenaged kiddo and large extended family. They live in Virginia’s beautiful Shenandoah Valley.

Heather Lill, LPC-MHSP
Sleep Helpline Manager

Heather is a licensed professional counselor (LPC-MHSP) in the state of Tennessee. She has worked in rural mental health, serving her hometown for the last decade, both within the school system and in her own private practice. Heather has a great passion for working with adolescents and their families, particularly with the LGBTQIA+ community.

Heather’s interest in the science of sleep developed during graduate school, when her sister began exhibiting signs of narcolepsy type 1. She has often emphasized to clients and their families that sleep is the foundation of wellness, which became a much more important sentiment to her after her own chronic illness diagnosis. She serves as a county representative for the Mid-Cumberland Council for Children and Youth and a member of the expert advisory board for Vocational Rehabilitation.

Outside of work, Heather is an avid hiker, recently tackling the goal of hiking at all 57 state parks in her home state of Tennessee within a year. In addition, she enjoys reading, drinking decaf coffee in local coffee shops, antiquing with her best friend, weight lifting, fossil hunting, and bird watching. She lives in her hometown with her partner, Matt, their three children, and three dogs.

Emma Cooksey, LLB
Sleep Apnea Program Manager

Emma Cooksey is a writer, speaker, and patient advocate. She was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea at the age of 30, after more than a decade of unexplained health issues. In 2020, Emma launched a weekly podcast, “Sleep Apnea Stories”  to break down stereotypes of sleep apnea while also raising awareness of symptoms and treatment options.

In 2021, Emma became the first person with sleep apnea to complete Project Sleep’s Rising Voices speaker’s training. For the past several years, Emma served as a volunteer on Project Sleep’s Board of Directors, leading the organization’s efforts to establish the Expert Advisory Board in 2022.

In her current role as Sleep Apnea Program Manager, Emma runs Project Sleep’s Sleep Apnea Education and Awareness Program. Through this program, she develops and implements new awareness and educational initiatives, events, and activities to empower people with sleep apnea to seek diagnosis, support, and care. Emma holds a degree in Law and Economics from Aberdeen University.

Emma Cooksey; a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes wearing a blue and white striped button down blouse.
Rachel Aubrey
Digital Marketing Coordinator

Rachel is a content creator and digital communicator, with a passion for working in the non-profit sector. She has worked with a private nonprofit community arts organization in her hometown of Wausau, WI and with an animal rescue and transport organization based in Thailand.

Rachel is excited to continue learning about sleep health, sleep equity, and sleep disorders. She believes sleep is indeed a pillar of health and is thrilled to be able to share its benefits with the world. In her spare time, Rachel enjoys seeing live music, getting outside to explore the beautiful land and lakes that Wisconsin has to offer, and also traveling far beyond to an ever-growing list of destinations! She finds that spending the summers in Wisconsin and traveling to warmer destinations during the cold winter months is the perfect balance for her.

Farah Hasan, MSc
Sleep Education Specialist

Farah Hasan is a graduate of the Health Science Education Program at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. During her Master’s, she conducted research on the efficacy of using virtual reality headsets to teach clinical anatomy and developed curriculum proposals for sleep health education initiatives for parents of adolescent children.

Farah became involved with Project Sleep as a Rising Voices speaker, sharing her story about being diagnosed with idiopathic hypersomnia at age 21 after more than 15 years of experiencing symptoms. She was also an inaugural member of Project Sleep’s Expert Advisory Board and consulted on the development of Project Sleep’s Sleep Helpline.

In her role as the Sleep Education Specialist, Farah coordinates online webinars, develops resources and educational materials, and implements new strategies to support the organization’s sleep education and narcolepsy awareness programming. In her spare time, she enjoys making greeting cards for special events, crocheting gifts for friends and family, going on late night bubble tea and ice cream runs with her sister, and rewatching The Office for the millionth time with her husband. Farah lives in Ontario, Canada.

Diane Parsons
Operations Specialist

Diane is a passionate educator and problem solver who enjoys finding ways to streamline systems and make processes more efficient. She understands the power of knowledge delivered through authentic stories and is excited to support Project Sleep’s mission to make sleep cool.

Throughout her career, Diane has combined her love for spreadsheets, data management and helping her teams to create effective and efficient systems. She appreciates the value of strong communities and is honored to be helping advance projects that value health and wellness for everyone.

Diane recently returned to Ohio after living in several different states. She enjoys walking, reading, playing piano and handbells, and spending time with family. She loves visiting new states, but two of her favorite destinations are Maryland and Arizona where she spends cherished time with her two sons and their families.

Meet our Expert Advisory Board

Project Sleep's 30 Expert Advisory Board members.

Project Sleep’s Expert Advisory Board includes clinicians, researchers, patients, and advocates who are thought leaders and trailblazers in their respective fields. This powerful group works together to accelerate our mission of improving public health by educating individuals and communities about sleep health, sleep equity, and sleep disorders.

Meet Our Expert Advisory Board

Our Mission

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